If you Googled ‘supplements to clear up acne’ then you’d be pretty damn overwhelmed at how much information and advice there is out there; from both repeated and conflicting tips on what to take, to run downs of what every supplement, mineral and probiotic can do to balance and work with your bodily functions.

I’ve tried a bit of everything, but in the last few months I’ve found a combination of natural supplements that have helped my skin become clearer, smoother, softer and basically an easy breezy dream. I’m so close to the CC Cream dream!

The feeling of damp and gut issues has lingered since my first bout of acne outbreaks, and it clicked only after months that we had some acidophilus in the fridge – a natural good bacteria supplement that helps rebalance flora and kill off the bad stuff which allows acne-producing bacteria to keep resurfacing. Now I’ve taken two types of probiotics over the past two months and have seen a big difference in how they’ve performed, so do they work and what have they done for my skin?

Firstly I started on said acidophilus – Solgar Acidophilus Advanced Plus to be precise – once a day and in two days I noticed my skin had started to dry out from the bottom of my cheeks to my neck and also on my upper back, the main places I had acne breakouts. The rest? Normal, I literally had a north/south divide on my skin! A week later it was fully flaking off and very dry, but not unmanageable – I was having to leave intensive hydrating masks on which for once was nice! In that time about 2/3 spots that were stuck under hardened and thick skin had come to the surface and were easy to extract without damage to the skin, and my cheeks were overall softer and smoother. After that I upped to 2 tablets a day to really kick the last few out. Cue even more drying out for a longer period of time, but also the clearing up of another 3/4 under-skin bumps, plus less oil overall in hormonal prone areas. Once thing I did notice is that every morning I woke up with heads on spots that were usually tough and hard, which to me showed that the probiotics were helping to push everything out – I can only suggest it’s similar to how accutane works minus the side effects?

Unfortunately for me the supplements ran out before I had time to repurchase so went into a health shop for more advice; here they suggested an alternative brand – Bio Care BioAcidophilus – which had 10 times the amount of strains as Solgar (also reflected in price!) that should help balance my gut and skin. I’ve been taking these for over 2 weeks now so think I can give a fair enough review – despite being higher dosage, they haven’t been as effective. My skin is a bit dry, but not to the extent of before where it would dry and flake off an amount to reflect the dose taken before settling, but more at a maintenance level, plus something that apparently occurs with taking probiotics is excess bloating from air, and yeah, I definitely experienced that. Great when mixed with pre-cycle hormones *sobs* Obviously, I’m going to continue taking these and have upped to the higher recommended two-a-day dose, but I do feel that after seeing the effects of the previous probiotics, I’d rather pay less and clear my skin up quicker and more effectively. Plus, more oils!

Before I round up, I should do a few extra shout outs – after reading Caroline’s post on acne, I doubled my fish oil intake (I’ve been taking four Wiley’s Finest 630 mg capsules a day) and also started taking a higher dosage Zinc tablet as it is great for taking down inflammation and fighting bacteria. I take the fish oils every morning and zinc in the evening as it absorbs better, and both these have helped my skin stay soft and reduce the lingering redness and painful lumps – winner!

So do probiotics work for skin? Yes, if you find the right brand and blend of bacteria that helps you. Realistically, if you take any antibiotic, you should take probiotics to replace good bacteria killed off or if you – it’s even noted on the NHS website that different types of probiotics have different effects on the body and not to assume one brand/type of strain will do the same as another, so whilst my current ones aren’t as focused on acne bacteria, they are balancing my gut overall (she hopes) and I know to go back to my previous brand in the future. Get the bottle on pre-order renewal ASAP!

Would you consider probiotics for your skin? Have you taken acidophilus for your gut/acne before? Do you know of the benefits of good bacteria?

Lots of Love,
Lauren x

Some products in this post may have been sent for review or gifted, and will be marked with a * or c/o. All opinions are mine are not influenced by brands or companies. Please see my full disclaimer for more.